Postby Mike Farley » Thu 26 Jun 2014, 19:09
A promising start, Paul.
I am not certain about the background colour for the rose, which is too similar and results in the top of the bloom getting a bit lost. There is some interesting modelling on the right which makes the rose stand out, so perhaps the lighting could be set up to produce this around the whole of the flower? There are some shadows on the right of the rose which look a mite too heavy, so would it be possible to moderate them when you adjust the lighting? Unfortunately, the rose is not quite a perfect specimen and there are some spots on the leaf at lower left which could usefully be cloned out. The leaf also looks a bit awkward in its near vertical position and placing it so that it forms a diagonal might help. You could also try positioning the entire flower as a diagonal and see if that works.
The lobelia shots both suffer from having too many flowers, so while the initial impression is good, the centre parts of the images are a bit of a jumble when you look more closely. A bit of separation would help. I am in two minds about the shadow on the white background. In some respects it helps give a bit of depth, but I also find it a bit distracting. Maybe the profusion of flowers is a factor in that?
I do wonder whether everything is a bit too sharp. Would a bit of diffusion improve matters? Maybe moving the Clarity slider to the left if the images started out as Raw files? I would also try adding a subtle vignette to the shots with the pale background to help concentrate the eye on the flowers. Nothing too obvious, more of a sublimnal effect.
Something else which you could try is placing the flowers on a scanner, which gives some interesting effects similar to what you have achieved here. If you do this, it is recommended that you put a bit of clingfilm over the glass to protect it.
A worthwhile raffle prize if it has inspired you to do this and I am impressed by this first effort. It's certainly worth experimenting further and I look forward to seeing the results.